Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced in January 2008 that the government was drawing up a new energy strategy to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels; the measure was designed to make it easier and far more economical for consumers to access alternative energy sources and more energy-efficient technologies generally. That same month the U.S. rating agency Standard and Poor’s lowered its outlook on The Bahamas from positive to stable following a reassessment of the country’s growth and investment prospects, given its close tourism, financial, and trade links with the U.S.

Agreement was reached in February for the Venezuelan-owned BORCO (Bahamas Oil Refining Co.) oil-storage terminal in Grand Bahama to be taken over by a partnership of private equity company First Reserve Corp. and Dutch firm Royal Vopak, holding 80% and 20%, respectively. The long-term plan was to spend $550 million to make the terminal a key oil-transhipment hub in the Americas. The Bahamas seemed ambivalent, however, about having liquid natural gas regasification plants located in the country; a government spokesman insisted in July that LNG was “not a priority.”

Amnesty International in May criticized The Bahamas for its treatment of Haitian immigrants. AI pointed out that Haitians arriving in the country were “ill-treated” and were being “deported in large numbers.”